In a vehicle air conditioner, for example, an air conditioning control panel is installed in the front panel or the like at a driver's seat in order to perform a range of operations such as turning the device on and off, selecting the operating mode, setting the temperature, and the like. Switches required for the above-mentioned range of operations are installed in such an air conditioning control panel, and among the switches used herein there is a type called a “dial type switch mechanism.”
In this dial type switch mechanism, a pressure operating surface of a push type switch part, which performs switching operations by pressure being applied to the switch part, is installed in the center of the front face. Furthermore, a control dial of the dial switch part, which performs switching operations by rotary operation, is integrated with the push type switch part around its circumference.
In the above-mentioned conventional dial type switch mechanism, the construction is such that the turning force of the switching operation, which is obtained by operating the control dial of the dial switch part, is transmitted by the engagement of gears, operating a switch body installed on the same axis as the gears. That is, since the control dial, the gears and the switch body of the dial type switch part are located such that they are adjacent from a plane view, when installing a dial type switch mechanism in a front panel, it is necessary to make space available for installing the gears around the control dial. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1)    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2001-229780 (refer to FIG. 3)    Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2001-236861    Patent Document 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2001-189117